Saturday, May 19, 2007

North Stars deal Foguth, acquire Sauer

The Traverse City North Stars got a little more fleet afoot on Friday, albeit at the expense of some girth.

The team sent prodigious forward John Foguth south, trading the Fenton native to the Wichita Falls Wildcats for playmaking winger Joel Sauer.

Sauer (pictured) was tied for third last season among Wildcats scorers with 36 points after appearing in all 62 regular season contests for the Cats.

“We thought John would be a little more in his element in the South Division,” explained Stars GM Anthony Palumbo. “They (Wichita Falls) needed to get a little more rugged, a little tougher, and we know John brings that to the table. We needed a puckhandling, playmaker-type up front and we think that’s what we got with Joel.”

Sauer, 19, netted eight goals and assisted on 28 others, including 13 assists on the power play. The Verona, Wisc. native came on strong toward the end of the 2006-07 campaign, registering six goals over the final 13 contests of the regular season.

Foguth (6-4, 220 pounds), who played 18 games last year for the North Stars after a mid-season trade brought him in from Springfield, had a pair of goals and two assists in TC and three goals and four assists over the entirety of the season. He also logged a combined 148 penalty minutes.

“We lose a little size in the deal, but we also get a great deal of skill with Sauer (5-11, 180),” Palumbo surmised. “I think it was a win-win for both teams.”